This Is The Kind ...

... of political reporting we want to see more of.Just read it.Today's other news starts after the jump.

30-Second U.S. Senate Update (TM):After a few days of actual news, THE NATION'S MOST CLOSELY WATCHED U.S. SENATE RACE (sigh) slips back into its usual mind-numbing groove of battle-by-press-release.Team Santorum fires first, accusing Hermetic Bob of being "delusional," for saying the state has been losing jobs since 2001 when new Rendell administration figures show the state has gained 124,800 jobs since January 2003.The only high point in this otherwise back-breakingly tedious blizzard of spin comes when they refer to Casey's "New Direction" bus tour as his "Wrong Direction" bus tour. Hey -- who says Republicans can't be funny? Lest we forget, Watergate was a laugh riot.But we digress.Here's Santorum spokesczar Vince Galko: "Why is Bobby Casey so delusional? Maybe if he says something enough times he'll get people to believe it," Galko said, apparently forgetting his own boss's transparent efforts to pass as a moderate by pandering to the middle with that whole stem cell thing last week. "But the facts are clear: Pennsylvania continues to see job growth, and it's because of policies supported by Sen. Rick Santorum."Kamp Casey, meanwhile, fires back this morning, saying that the economy is bad -- no matter what Gov. Ed says."Rick Santorum is so out of touch ..." Casey spokesdrone LarrySmar begins.Okay, we'll bite.HOW OUT OF TOUCH IS HE?"Rick Santorum is so out of touch that he doesn't realize that Pennsylvania has lost 185,000 manufacturing jobs and that prices are rising faster than wages," Smar said, stepping all over his punch line. "Rick Santorum should spend less time at his Virginia estate and at Washington lobbyist lunches and more time in Pennsylvania."And this is what passes for political humor these days?Good Lord ... this campaign is never, ever, ever going to end.

You Paid For It Dept.Five retiring state legislators are set to travel to Nashville, Tenn. next month to attend a national legislative conference, the Patriot-News of Harrisburg reports this morning.Twenty-seven other PA lawmakers and legislative staffers, mostly from the House Democrats, will head to Music City U.S.A. for the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures.Readers may recall that we, along with The Philadelphia Inquirer, cataloged lawmakers' misadventures at last year's post-pay raise NCSL conference in Seattle. You remember? That's the one where Rep. Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia, compared us to Joe Stalin while he scarfed down free appetizers at the Seattle Science Center?It wasn't immediately clear Monday how much the trips will cost taxpayers, if anything at all. But should you run into any of the following retiring state representatives: Mark McNaughton, R-Dauphin; Lynn Herman, R-Centre, James Shaner, D-Fayette; Ken Ruffing, D-Allegheny, and Thomas Corrigan, D-Bucks, be sure to ask them how they can justify the trip when they're headed for the private sector in a few months' time.

Russ Diamond, RIP:With a Tuesday deadline looming, it looks like independent gubernatorial candidate Russ Diamond has hit the end of the road, The Bucks County Courier-Times reported Saturday.Diamond's only obtained 40 percent of the 67,000 signatures he needed to get on the statewide ballot in November, and last week, he was predicting a return to work at his CD and DVD replication business.Or maybe something else."I haven't really made a living since last year, and the bills come due," Diamond told the newspaper. "So, if you find someone who's hiring for a political analyst, let me know."

The Fabulous Fighting Murphys Dept.See, now this is what you run into when you have three people named Murphy seeking three different Congressional seats. It's not a problem. Rather, it's a satiric goldmine.First, we bring you the case of Democratic 8th CD hopeful Patrick Murphy, who's faced with brickbats from U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick's campaign. Seems Rep. Fitzpatrick is accusing Mr. Murphy of breaking an "honesty pledge" by falsely announcing that he'd picked up an endorsement from the Bucks County AFL-CIO.Meanwhile, there's GOP U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy of Pittsburgh, who says "new security improvements (are keeping) passengers safe at Pittsburgh International Airport."Apparently, the Pittsburgh Murphy went on an airport tour recently and, despite setting off metal detectors with his perfectly coiffed hair, found it to be safe and secure and mostly immune from terrorist threat.Finally, there's Democrat Lois Murphy, who's running in the Chester County-based 6th Congressional District against Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (speaking of perfect hair).She's out with a new press release trumpeting last week's U.S House vote to raise the minimum wage, forgetting that Republicans inserted a poison pill amendment on the estate tax -- which means that it's DOA in the Senate.Wow, this is just like that scene in The Quiet Man where John Wayne and Barry Fitzgerald get into a brawl that ranges over the whole village.

GovWatch (TM):Gov. Ed's on the campaign trail in Allegheny County today. Guess that whole Lynn Swann-in-Philadelphia thing is getting on his nerves.At 12 p.m., he's having lunch with local leaders from Penn Hills at the Alcoma Golf Club. At 1:45 p.m., it's a Meet-and-Greet with some area veterans at Plum American Legion hall. At 3 p.m., he's in Monroeville, to do some flesh-pressing with the fine employees of Forbes Regional Hospital. And the 6 p.m. dinner hour finds PA's chief executive at a Young Democrats' event in the USX Building.Lynn Swann, meanwhile, apparently has no public schedule -- or at least one that he's sharing with us.

On The Capitol Ideas iPod This Morning:We're in a dub heavy mood this morning, so we're going deep with a collection from Derrick Harriott called Riding the Roots Chariot, that features contributions from Big Youth, Good Ambition, I-Roy, Bongo Herman, and Dennis Brown. It's setting exactly the right tone for what's shaping up to be a sweltering Monday.Monday's Gratuitous Soccer Link:Capitol Ideas' beloved D.C. United reached the end of their 14-game unbeaten streak on Saturday night, going down to a 2-1 road defeat to Real Salt Lake, who are mired in last place in the MLS' Western Division.Ugh.The less said about this, the better.

Also, a question for you -- I happened to be channel-surfing last night and saw Ed Rendell, on the PCN-TV network, on his tour bus coming out of some small town restaurant. The classic part was the big Tuesday night wings sign outside. He took a pic with a war vet and two other people outside. And he was given a t-shirt inside.

Any idea where he was? They never showed the town name. Just wondering.

Posted By: Rosey | Jul 31, 2006 11:24:45 AM

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